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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24278818">Apple Juice</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/griffdo/pseuds/griffdo'>griffdo</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Final Fantasy VIII</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Closeted Character, Days Off, Embarassed by a parent, Left Behind - Freeform, Long Lie, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-03 01:00:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,693</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24278818</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/griffdo/pseuds/griffdo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Squall wakes in Zell's bed in Balamb just in time to find out that the Garden is taking off without him and Zell, opening up the summer for the both of them. Set Post-Game.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Zell Dincht/Squall Leonhart</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Apple Juice</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I am just writing this for fun, and because I had a 'What if' thought about my boy's being left behind in Balamb. Let me know what you think, and whether I should keep going with it.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Squall woke slowly, drifting back into consciousness almost in time with the gentle lapping sound of the waves on the breeze breathing in through the open window. He tried to remove himself from the light cotton sheets tangled around his feet but the effort was almost too much for him. His hands knotted the cotton ineffectually in his fists as he pulled but somehow all he managed to do was make the situation worse. He sighed and dropped his hands to his abdomen, his fingers scratching absent-mindedly at the light dusting of hair below his bellybutton, before tracing over faint scar lines, reminders of battles fought long ago.</p><p>With effort he propped himself up on his elbows and looked around at the immaculately kept bedroom. It was different from his, which wasn't exactly messy, but Zell's room was bordering on cleanliness obsession. There was nothing out of place. He looked around for the clothes he had left on the floor yesterday and there was nothing at all to be found. With effort, and with his feet still tangled he spun over the side of the empty bed and hung upside down, looking under it for something he could pull on. There was still nothing. He didn't even have to worry about his long floppy hair picking up dust from the floor, under the bed was so clean it was almost sterile.</p><p>"Zell..."</p><p>Squall sighed and dropped back onto the bed.</p><p>He could easily stay where he was until Zell rematerialised. He wasn't sure where he had gone, the blond boy could easily be downstairs reading an old Timber Maniacs, but Squall wasn't sure where Ma Dincht was, and although he was sure she had noticed just how often Squall had slept over recently, Squall still didn't want to draw undue attention. It wasn't his place to be making things any more obvious, that was between Zell and his Ma.</p><p>Squall lay and listened to the waves for a few minutes and watched the sunlight dappled across the pattern over the plain roof. If he looked closely he could see a light rectangular discolouration; he made a mental note to ask Zell what kind of poster he had placed above his bed when he was younger. Most importantly he couldn't hear anyone downstairs at all. Wherever they were, neither were here.</p><p>Eventually the waiting got to be too much for him. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and gathered the sheet loosely around his waist. The wooden floor felt pleasantly warm under his bare feet and he padded down stairs to the reception room at the bottom of them. He trailed his hands along the stucco wall to keep his balance and smiled at the family photos hung on the circular stairway. He paused slightly to look at the photo of the gang all together and his eyes wrinkled with familiarity.</p><p>Smiling had come a lot easier to him recently, and he couldn't even remember the last time he had lapsed into silence during a conversation, only to respond with 'Whatever,' when a response was required.</p><p>Making his way into the kitchen he squatted into the fridge as he opened it and started hunting for some fruit juice of some kind. If he remembered rightly it would be somewhere near the back of the fridge, out of the way should Zell find it and drink it all in one sitting, and end up juiced up on sugar for the rest of the day.</p><p>That's when he heard the voice behind him.</p><p>"Morning Squall, good to see you!" It was Ma Dincht.</p><p>He struggled to straighten up quickly. His hand balled around the sheets pulling them tight around his waist. The last thing he wanted to happen was for them to fall to the ground like some ridiculous comedy film starring Laguna.</p><p>"Good Morning Mrs. Dincht!" Squall answered, perhaps too eagerly. He had made a split second decision that he was best acting like it was completely acceptable for his partner's Mum to find him naked and reaching in her fridge, even if she didn't yet know that they were partners. I mean, even him and Zell hadn't had that discussion yet. They were just spending time together; 'decompressing' Zell had called it. Squall had liked that, and not just because of the strange association with them surviving Time Compression.</p><p>"Such a lovely morning today, isn't it?" she smiled earnestly and gently reached past Squall into the refrigerator, her hand emerging with a carton of apple juice which she placed gently on the counter before placing a clean glass from the cupboard beside it. "I did guess that you'd be here. As... territorial Zell can be about his room, he knows I never go in without his permission. When he made me swear on his life this morning that I'd stay out I assumed that you'd still be sleeping."</p><p>Squall sidestepped the familiarity and decided to approach the conversation from another angle. This was all about strategy.</p><p>"Do you have any idea where Zell is Mrs. Dincht? I didn't know that he would be heading out this morning..." he scrambled quickly for an appropriate lie, "We were going over plans for the next cohort of students from Garden, and it got a bit too later for me to head back over there. I should be setting a good example for the other students, so Zell said I should stay instead of trying to climb the Training Centre wall."</p><p>Internally he winced, he had blamed Zell for his waking up in his bed and he didn't like how that felt. He'd apologise later. Back to the problem at hand however, and how he could try to convince Ma Dincht that everything was fine. He picked up the carton of apple juice in one hand, but then couldn't get it open, his other hand was still threatening to cramp with how tightly he was holding on to the flimsy sheet.</p><p>Ma Dincht watched him struggle with the carton and instead of enjoying his difficulty, instead sidled in beside him and took charge, pouring him a respectable glass.</p><p>"Zell told me you liked apple, so I got some in, just in case." She beamed her indomitable smile, which for some reason reminded Squall of the lighthouse at the orphanage with it's comfort and stability.</p><p>"...Thanks." Squall managed as his face flushed red.</p><p>“Your clothes are in the wash, but Zell pulled some things out for you. He’s left them on the cabinet.” She gestured with her head to the entryway before chuckling, “I made sure the pockets were empty before washing, because Zell always forgets.”</p><p>“You still haven’t said where he’s gone.” Squall didn’t want to press the issue, but he wasn’t sure he had ever felt this uncomfortable. He was in Zell’s house alone with his mother, and that had to end, preferably as soon as possible. He looked at the neat pile on the deep coloured cabinet, his wallet and cellphone were placed deliberately on top of them.</p><p>He noticed Zell had attached a charm to the side of his phone. He picked it up and looked at it, before laughing despite the awkwardness he felt. It was a small orange cartoon lion. While chuckling to himself he started pulling the khaki shorts that had been left for him on under the sheet. The sooner he had the use of both of his hands the better. After a particularly undignified wrestle with the shorts, he pulled the plain white t-shirt on and started carefully folding the sheet. He was desperate to not have to fight with any more material for the rest of the day. The shorts were a good four inches shorter than he would have liked, but judging by the rest of Zell’s wardrobe he should be grateful at what he had picked out.</p><p>Squall turned his attention back to the kitchen and to Ma Dincht’s back, where she had been admirably observing the window with intense interest.</p><p>“He bounced out of bed this morning and said he was going for a run. He was halfway down the street before I could even get a word out. He had to double back on himself to tell me to stay out of his room.”</p><p>Squall spun the plastic lion in between his fingers as he took a hearty swig of the apple juice. Undercover living was thirsty work it seemed. Zell obviously didn’t seem as phased as Squall was. Not for the first time Squall wondered where Zell got his energy from. It seemed almost never-ending.</p><p>As if summoned by that thought Zell came bursting through the front door, breathless and face flushed with effort and exertion. Squall was initially pleased to see him, and could feel the pressure of the morning lift. Surely between the two of them they would be able to convince Mrs. Dincht that nothing was going on. His relaxation lasted just long enough to read the emotion on Zell’s face, which he recognised as intense confusion, before the rumbling started.</p><p>It felt like the house was shaking from the very foundation, ornaments and crockery shook throughout the entire house as the vibration intensified. There was a weighty thud from upstairs which Squall took to be the punching bag shuddering loose of it’s fixture.</p><p>Instinctively Ma Dincht reached out and started holding the more breakable glassware in place. She didn’t seem as bothered by the occurrence as Squall was.</p><p>“<span>Calm in the face of an earthquake; only Zell’s mom…” Squall thought in passing as he lurched towards the door, the ground shifting slightly underneath him. He didn’t know why, but he needed to be outside, probably </span><span>because outside </span><span>the threat of a roof falling on his head was markedly less. </span></p><p>He started hearing the metallic creak and the distant chimes as he made his way into the street, and managed to look towards the harbour just in time to see Balamb Garden, mobile and entering the water. The vibrations gradually faded and Zell settled in beside him.</p><p>“Tried to tell you,” he gasped, “they’re leaving without us.”</p>
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